My Stupid Mistake While Hiking Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica) originally appeared on Green Global Travel. Located on Costa Rica‘s remote Osa Peninsula, Corcovado National Park has been referred to by National Geographic as “the most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity.” At 164 square miles, it’s the largest national park in Costa Rica, the largest primary forest on the American Pacific coastline, and one of the few remaining large areas of lowland …

40 Amazing Costa Rican Animals (Photo Essay) originally appeared on Green Global Travel. The other day, during a conversation about the places we’ve traveled to and would never re-visit, we were flabbergasted when a friend suggested that Costa Rica had nothing further to offer her. We’ve explored ecotourism in Costa Rica three …

Costa Rica Surfing Road Trip Nicoya Penninsula, Costa Rica Surfing is unpredictable, and forces you out of your comfort zone. You only have a few seconds to decide if you’re going to commit to that wave quickly barreling down behind you. If you guess wrong, or hesitate, the results might not be pleasant. But if you guess right… the natural high of riding the power of the ocean is pure bliss. An addiction that makes surfers take a beating & come back for more. Costa Rica&#…

Costa Rican sunset I have a little confession to make. I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to adventure activities. Heights terrify me. I have little to no desire to throw myself out of planes. Plummeting headfirst to the ground while attached to a bungee rope does not sound like my definition of fun. Even zip lining…

I came to the Costa Rica party late. Costa Rica, as I saw it, was the place where Americans who never traveled went, then returned feeling as if they were Indiana Jones, the Promised Land of sloths and colorful birds and pura vida I always knew was overhyped—certainly for anyone who’d actually seen a double-digit percentage of the world’s countries. My first trip to Costa Rica, which I took just last November, seemed to confirm this. Although, to be fair, I hadn’t even come to …

I am a sucker for free stuff. If someone is handing out promotional bananas or yoghurts outside the tube station I will go out of my way to take them. If I spot a voucher in a magazine that gives me a discount on cosmetics I’ll get the scissors out and start cutting. Or if a…

St Lucia/Flickr/Jean-Marc Astesana Trips to the Caribbean are often considered among the dreamiest of getaways, and depending on where you’d like to stay, they can also be among the most expensive. But there’s a loophole: If you book your hotel and flights as part of a package, rather than separately, you’ll reap some major savings. Here are three air-inclusive travel packages that prove you can take a luxe Caribbean vacation …

By Adam Groffman San José, Costa Rica, is a small and chaotic city frequently neglected by both tourists and locals. In fact, most Ticos are more-than-happy to share their disgust about the capital, calling it ugly and eagerly willing to point out all the deficiencies and problems of …

By Adam Groffman Eating, like traveling, is a way to relate with the world and with new cultures. That’s why when I travel, I make the local cuisine a big part of my adventure. That joy you feel when you taste something so different and so surprising for the first time. When you learn a new word for a new fruit you’ve never seen nor heard of before. When you taste a home-cooked meal in a foreign country and it’s totally not what you were expecting. When you discover…

By Adam Groffman There are several reasons to make Costa Rica your next travel destination, both for work and for pleasure. Beyond the magnificence of the natural beauty, the friendliness of the Ticos, the amazing food and the extraordinary weather, Costa Rica is a small country characterized by its easygoingness and relative peace. A country without an army since 1948, Costa Rica is a paradise on Earth, running almost completely on green energy and hosting approximately 5% of the biodiversity of the entire world. My first visit to Costa Rica was just a glimpse into this diversity. …

By Adam Groffman Since studying Spanish intermittently throughout my life, I’ve picked up enough basic phrases and words to get by in most Spanish-speaking countries. But when visiting Costa Rica this past winter in the heart of Central America, I suddenly found myself speechless. As I quickly learned, the Spanish they speak in Costa Rica is slightly different than that in other Spanish-speaking countries. Rather than sharing how beautiful the nature in Costa Rica is, or how difficult it is to …

By Adam Groffman There are several reasons to make Costa Rica your next travel destination, both for work and for pleasure. Beyond the magnificence of the natural beauty, the friendliness of the Ticos, the amazing food and the extraordinary weather, Costa Rica is a small country characterized by its easygoingness and relative peace. A country without an army since 1948, Costa…

By Adam Groffman I visited Costa Rica this past November and fell in love with the country—the food, the natural beauty, the beaches and the Tico culture. It’s no surprise that it tops so many “best of the world” lists. In a country that’s only the size of West Virginia, there are …

A snorkelling trip to Isla Tortuga on the Nicoya Pennisula Known as the greenest country in the world, Costa Rica is home to five percent of the world’s biodiversity. With lakes, volcanos and lush rainforests, it’s easy to see why it is the #1 destination for tourists visiting Central America. Although the country is…